THE futures of several candidates for the position of public protector hang in the balance after their questionable pasts have come back to haunt them.
The credentials of these candidates could block them from any potential move by the ad hoc committee in Parliament to consider them for the appointment.
The Sunday Times reported yesterday that former deputy public protector Mamiki Goodman, who is considered one of the top contenders for the job, has quit in a huff from her job at the National Gambling Board following revelations in the National Assembly.
It emerged during the interview on Thursday that Goodman was suspended by the National Gambling Board, information that she did disclose to MPs.
Following her resignation on Friday, Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe denied claims by the current Deputy Public Protector Kevin Malunga that he worked as his adviser and speech writer in 2012. Malunga had confirmed this to DA MP Phumzile van Damme when she questioned his role in the drafting of the Traditional Courts Bill during that time.
The bill is currently in limbo in the National Council of Provinces.
Radebe denied the claim by Malunga, and said he worked in the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development for a brief period as a researcher.
All this has brought into question the credibility of some of the leading candidates for the job.
Malunga’s citizenship was also questioned after the State Security Agency said he was born in Zimbabwe and did not have the required security clearance for the job of public protector, which also requires that the incumbent must be a South African citizen.
Malunga told MPs that he denounced his Zimbabwean citizenship in 2010, and was now a naturalised South Africa. But the committee said it would further interrogate this matter during its deliberations in the coming days.
Malunga and Goodman were not the only people whose pasts were brought into question during the marathon interviews.
A rape allegation against Western Cape High Court Judge Siraj Desai in 2004 was also raised in the interviews.This was during a trip to Mumbai when activist Salome Isaacs laid charges against him, but they were later withdrawn by a court in India.
Electoral Court Judge Mhlaliseni Mthembu was also questioned on his capacity for financial management after MPs revealed that he owed Nedbank a substantial amount of money.
The Nedbank matter was not the only default judgment against Mthembu, but Sars too.
Mthembu admitted the Nedbank matter and said it was being settled, but denied owing Sars.
Willie Hofmeyr of the National Prosecuting Authority was also questioned on his role in the dropping of charges against President Jacob Zuma, six days before the elections in 2009. The ad-hoc committee has two weeks before it has to pick a candidate to succeed Thuli Madonsela as public protector.